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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · 16d

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt reflects on Rosh Hashanah: after meeting Yunis Alkarnawi—a Bedouin father who risked his life on Oct 7 to save Jews & others—he writes that Yunis’ unimaginable courage will stay with him forever, a light reshaping how he sees this year. view.adlmail.org?qs=acfff68e6...

And yet, one of the most memorable moments was our visit to the southern city of Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in the country. It doesn’t show up on the itinerary of a typical mission to Israel. But we took the time in order to meet with Yunis Alkarnawi, a local Bedouin and father of six.

view.adlmail.org

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · 22d

Today I will be chairing this webinar on the largest (less important) and successful (WOW!) suicide prevention trial from Australia.
events.zoom.us/ev/AogXbbUoI...

Evaluating the LifeSpan suicide prevention model in Australian communities

events.zoom.us

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · 23d

parentscirclefriends.org/pledge-signe...

Pledge signed – thank you! - American Friends of the Parents Circle

Thank you for pledging peace We deeply appreciate your commitment to our Peace Pledge. Your pledge to uphold the values of peace, understanding, and respectful dialogue is a beacon of hope in these ch...

parentscirclefriends.org

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · 26d

Are they going to learn the first lesson of psychometrics?

Daniel P. Moriarity @dpmoriarity.bsky.social · 26d

Reading the first round of discussion questions for my class and they are all criticizing the PHQ-9 as an outcome measure and talking about the weaknesses of ignoring individual symptoms when analyzing data

a man with a beard is smiling for the camera .

ALT: a man with a beard is smiling for the camera .

media.tenor.com

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Sep 4

And the only validated prescriptive model of alternative psychotherapies (i.e. based not only on prognostic factors but also on effect modifiers, and enabling differential therapeutics) was also based only on boring psychometric and demographic variables. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Sep 4

I’m very sorry, Zach. I thought you might enjoy this type of conversation. OK, let’s keep on a positive note (^^)

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Sep 4

Well, of course, it's not that strange in medicine. For heart failure, we have literally more than 100 prognostic indexes, none of which works very well ;)

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Sep 4

Zach, why do people pursue this pipe dream when dozens of studies and millions of dollars have failed to find a replicable HTE subtypes based on imaging and/or genetics?

Zachary Cohen @depressionlab.bsky.social · Sep 4

New article written by Heather Stringer about precision treatment work in the mental health space by Kate Bentley, Ellen Driessen, @jorsmo.bsky.social, Leanne Williams, Conor Liston, and others www.apa.org/monitor/2025...

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Sep 4

Zach, why do people pursue this pipe dream when dozens of studies and millions of dollars have failed to find a replicable HTE subtypes based on imaging and/or genetics?

Zachary Cohen @depressionlab.bsky.social · Sep 4

New article written by Heather Stringer about precision treatment work in the mental health space by Kate Bentley, Ellen Driessen, @jorsmo.bsky.social, Leanne Williams, Conor Liston, and others www.apa.org/monitor/2025...

www.apa.org

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 31

Yes, I think Dianne and Steve's scheme goes beyond the GRADEd systematic reviews, when they emphasize effectiveness research, heterogeneity in treatment effects and cost-effectiveness. But we set a higher bar for the very evidence base for "empirically supported therapies" today.

Zachary Cohen @depressionlab.bsky.social · Aug 31

A sampling of the slides… I’ll say this though - I’ll never teach a class on evidence based psychotherapies without praising Dianne and Steve for that original 1992 paper. We can respect our history while also teaching students about the present (and future)!

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 31

This 30-year-old scheme has served its purpose, but replication alone is insufficient today. We need systematic reviews with minimal publication bias, critically appraised by GRADE. Zach and Daniel, my respected BlueSky friends, shall we not teach this to our next generation?

Zachary Cohen @depressionlab.bsky.social · Aug 31

Taught this in my undergrad class Thursday too… apologized to the students ahead of time for all the name dropping…

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 24

So am I just as good as this generative AI?

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 24

It not only quite accurately summarizes the paper, but finds very plausible limitations AND proposes future study designs to address them. Surprise, surprise, it is exactly what we are planning to do in our next trial (already approved), involving external validation and longitudinal optimization.

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 24

An apparently fully automated generative AI analysis of our paper on precision psychotherapy (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) popped up in my mailbox. I think I am allowed to cite it here: bgpt.pro?q=Paper%20Re... (if not, pls let me know, BGPT!). It's amazingly accurate.

Personalised & optimised therapy (POT) algorithm using five cognitive and behavioural skills for subthreshold depression - npj Digital Medicine

npj Digital Medicine - Personalised & optimised therapy (POT) algorithm using five cognitive and behavioural skills for subthreshold depression

www.nature.com

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 24

mailchi.mp/theparentsci...

Our youth are a beacon of reconciliation and hope

mailchi.mp

Reposted by Toshi Furukawa

Laura Ana Bustamante, PhD @lauraabusta.bsky.social · Aug 22

Very cool! @depressionlab.bsky.social does relevant work in this area 😊

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 22

Thanks for the response. Which post BTW, and why? If I may ask?

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 22

#ClinicalPsychology, #Psychotherapy, #counselling

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 22

We believe this is the first-ever system to make evidence-based personalized psychotherapy recommendations about what to do for whom. Or does anyone know such a precedent?

#Psychiatry #MentalHealthResearch #AcademicSky

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 21

Evidence-based personalized & optimized CBT skills for depression, based on a trial of 4469 adults. The Resilience Training App will augment the efficacy by 35% overall over the group average best, and by 64% for those whose best option wasn’t this group average best!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 22

We believe this is the first-ever system to make evidence-based personalized psychotherapy recommendations about what to do for whom. Or does anyone know such a precedent?

#Psychiatry #MentalHealthResearch #AcademicSky

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 21

Evidence-based personalized & optimized CBT skills for depression, based on a trial of 4469 adults. The Resilience Training App will augment the efficacy by 35% overall over the group average best, and by 64% for those whose best option wasn’t this group average best!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Personalised & optimised therapy (POT) algorithm using five cognitive and behavioural skills for subthreshold depression - npj Digital Medicine

npj Digital Medicine - Personalised & optimised therapy (POT) algorithm using five cognitive and behavioural skills for subthreshold depression

www.nature.com

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 21

Psychotherapists have claimed for >100 years that they provide/adjust interventions in view of the client's characteristics -- but all based on their personal experiences and opinions. Here we have the first-ever system to do so based on evidence.

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 21

Evidence-based personalized & optimized CBT skills for depression, based on a trial of 4469 adults. The Resilience Training App will augment the efficacy by 35% overall over the group average best, and by 64% for those whose best option wasn’t this group average best!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Personalised & optimised therapy (POT) algorithm using five cognitive and behavioural skills for subthreshold depression - npj Digital Medicine

npj Digital Medicine - Personalised & optimised therapy (POT) algorithm using five cognitive and behavioural skills for subthreshold depression

www.nature.com

3 8

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 21

Evidence-based personalized & optimized CBT skills for depression, based on a trial of 4469 adults. The Resilience Training App will augment the efficacy by 35% overall over the group average best, and by 64% for those whose best option wasn’t this group average best!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Personalised & optimised therapy (POT) algorithm using five cognitive and behavioural skills for subthreshold depression - npj Digital Medicine

npj Digital Medicine - Personalised & optimised therapy (POT) algorithm using five cognitive and behavioural skills for subthreshold depression

www.nature.com

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 15

itnewsletter.itnewsletter.co.il/sending/webp...

Not Standing Silent

itnewsletter.itnewsletter.co.il

Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 15

@ryuheiso.bsky.social This large scale pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial found no evidence to support the effectiveness of ultra-brief intervention in reducing alcohol consumption compared with simplified assessment only in primary care settings in Japan. bmj.com/cgi/content/...

Effectiveness of screening and ultra-brief intervention for hazardous drinking in primary care: pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a doctor delivered screening and ultra-brief intervention (<1 minute) compared with simplified assessment only for reducing alcohol intake among patients wit...

bmj.com

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Reposted by Toshi Furukawa

Florian Naudet @floriannaudet.bsky.social · Aug 9

« Weak campaign against predatory journals: structural issues »
New commentary with Alain Braillon and Constant Vinatier.

ijme.in/articles/wea...

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 9

Yep, but that’s a wrong way to compare treatments. The treatment effect is always a between-group matter.

Joar Øveraas Halvorsen @joarhalvorsen.bsky.social · Aug 8

So, in high-quality studies the response rate after psychotherapy for depression is 0.38, whereas the response rate in pill-placebo control groups is 0.34. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The effects of psychotherapies for depression on response, remission, reliable change, and deterioration: A meta‐analysis

Objective Meta-analyses of psychotherapies usually report effects sizes, while clinicians and patients need to know the proportion of patients who benefit from therapy. We conducted a meta-analysis ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Toshi Furukawa @toshi-frkw.bsky.social · Aug 2

How can this be?
itnewsletter.itnewsletter.co.il/sending/webp...

Justice for Awdah

itnewsletter.itnewsletter.co.il